There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy and the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.

People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things: the pleasant parts of conversation, the well-prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine and the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, hurt many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation. It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.

Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people hurt many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrongdoings. They should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.

Recently an old friend reached out to me to ask about the success I’ve had in my life (or at least what looks like success on social media XD) and how I achieved it. He has similar goals as me: get in shape, get into music more seriously, and be fluent in Japanese.

Though I haven’t entirely reached my long-term goals yet in any of these 3 ways, he’s seen that I’ve made some progress on my journey to achieving these goals and wanted my advice.

We had a nice hour and a half chat on the phone about this and it seemed like he was pretty motivated by the end of the chat. A week went by and he told me that he signed up for a personal fitness trainer, was studying music theory, and sent me clips of him studying Japanese. He’s posting regularly on social media about all the progress he’s making. He’s motivated and doing great!

At last I’ll have to remind him that progress isn’t linear (线性的) and that he’ll finally meet with some challenges in the road, but I’m letting him enjoy the present progress in the meantime and will help him tackle them when that time comes.

I’m grateful for him giving me the opportunity to serve him and give him advice, and I’m grateful to see that he’s investing the time and money to promote his life. He even posted recently about how grateful he is with all the recent changes in his life.

Even if you’re still not where you want to be, there are a lot of people out there who want what you have and who are impressed with how far you’ve come. It’s extremely joyful to be aware how far you’ve come, be proud of yourself, and recognize how much you can help others achieve the same.

One day a little boy decided to dig a hole behind his house after watching a science program. As he was working, a group of older boys stopped by to watch. "What are you doing?" asked one of the older boys. "I want to dig a deep hole all the way through the earth!" the boy answered excitedly. The older boys began to laugh at him telling him that it was impossible to do it. After a while, they left without saying any more words.

The little boy kept on digging and digging. Suddenly a few small colorful stones caught his eyes. He picked them up and put them into a glass box patiently. Then he went on digging. The box was full soon. Then he talked to himself quietly and proudly, "Maybe I can't finish digging all the way through the earth, but look at what I have found in the process of digging!"

Not all dreams will come true. Maybe your job will not end up with a success. But maybe you can proudly say, "Yes, but look what I've found along the way! There are so many wonderful things that have come into my life because I tried to do something!" So that's why there is a famous saying that the process is more important than the results.